Conversation, Collaboration and Creative Self-Employment

IAE students Nancy Plummer with Nicole Pfeifer work our table at the event

January was a month of running hard for me. From the USASBE conference in New Orleans to PNB-NAPEO in Morocco, teaching and the clarinet shop wedged in between, January was full of exciting conversations, opportunities for collaboration and a continuous flow of conversation about creativity ways to become self-employed.

January came to and end with WBEZ: Front and Center in Chicago throwing a self-employment party/mini training session at a very cool meeting place called Catalyst Ranch in Chicago. The IAE was invited to participate. We hosted 2 sessions: Entrepreneurship 101 and a mini pitching session we call: Create. Innovate. Repeat. (Which, by the way, if you live in Chicago, we have another one you can attend or pitch at, and its free, on Feb 16th.)

4 IAE student were selected to share with the audience what a great pitch looks. What a hard time it was deciding who should pitch. All of our students have been working so hard on their pitches.

Image Consultant Nancy Plummer from FineThreadsChicago delivered a wonderful pitch about how she can help individuals look their best. Positive Aging Dance Instructor Brenda Starr Woods showed us how chair tap dancing can help us live longer. Actor Osiris Khepera, OSirisHisName.com shared with us how he can create an amazing party by creating a special moment we could all share together. And Fashion Designer Stacie Randall, StacieRandall.com, shared with us an amazing story about how she transforms vintage clothing into collectables because of the secret stories they hold from their past.

Stacie Randall (red head) and Brenda Starr Woods (top hat), along with Nancy Plummer and Osiris Khepera, delivered a great pitch to almost 100 people. Did I mention that there were 300 more that could not even get in the door?

We love our No More Starving Artist Button and so did the attendees at the WBEZ event

Nicole Pfeifer held down the fort while students pitched, mingled and made connections. What a great job she did. We have 3 pages of names signed up on our list and over night 100 people signed up for our blog